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More NBA games called off

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, right, drives against Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, top left, and guard Kyle Lowry during the second half Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. (AP photo)

COVID-19 didn’t keep Miami center Bam Adebayo out of any games last season, even though he tested positive for the virus not long before the NBA’s restart bubble opened.

He missed two games last week because of the virus — without having the virus.

Adebayo is one of many players sidelined at some point in recent weeks by contact tracing, the method of figuring out who may have possibly been exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. It has been a major factor in the decisions to postpone 20 games so far this season, including the latest three Memphis Grizzlies’ games that the league decided Thursday to push back.

“As much as we may complain about it, it’s only for our own benefit,” Washington’s Bradley Beal said.

Beal missed a Jan. 9 game while going through contact tracing, a process in which the NBA and its teams take a deep dive into who people have been around over a two-day period once someone tests positive.

The Grizzlies won’t have enough available players until at least the middle of next week, the NBA said — in part because of contact tracing. Today’s game at Portland, along with home games Sunday and Monday against Sacramento, were pushed back, the NBA said. That decision came one day after the Grizzlies’ game at Portland, scheduled for Wednesday, was also called off.

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